Method and apparatus for routing data to cellular network

Abstract

A method, apparatus and computer program, in which: traffic is routed between a wide area network connection and a plurality of local network devices; the wide area network connection is formed in any of a plurality of connection types; each local network device of the plurality of the local network devices is identified; for each of the identified local network devices a suitable connection type is determined out of the plurality of connection types; and for each of the identified network devices the suitable connection type is arranged so that different ones of the identified network devices are able to communicate over the wide area network connection with different connection types.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus, comprising:
 at least one processor; and 
 at least one memory including computer program code, where the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to at least: 
 route traffic between a wide area network connection and a plurality of local network devices associated with a communication network; 
 form the wide area network connection in any of a plurality of connection types; 
 control the router to identify each local network device of the plurality of the local network devices; 
 automatically determine based at least on a packet inspection of traffic protocols of each port defined by data of the traffic for each of the identified local network devices, a suitable connection type out of the plurality of connection types using packet inspection of a data packet of the traffic, wherein the packet inspection comprises determining a communication protocol of the data packet based on a port defined by the data packet; and 
 based on the determining: 
 arrange for each of the identified network devices to use at least one of a different network and a different gateway associated with the communication network to form a plurality of physical links different than other concurrently existing physical links for use by the different connection types, 
 assign a different physical link of the plurality of physical links to each identified network device of the identified network devices for the suitable connection type for communication by different ones of the identified network devices with different connection types of the plurality of connection types over the communication network, 
 and 
 tear down physical links of the other concurrently existing physical links that are no longer used for the different connection types. 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the connection type specifies at least one of a requirement for quality of service or a particular flow control mechanism. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the packet inspection associated with the traffic protocols of each port defined by data of the traffic for each of the identified local network devices is determining a source Internet Protocol address, and a destination Internet Protocol address associated with each port defined by data of the traffic for each of the identified local network devices, and is determining at least one of a real time communication protocol, a real time communication control protocol, a hypertext transfer protocol, or a hypertext transfer protocol secure packet associated with each port defined by data of the traffic for each of the identified local network devices. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to form connections with a cellular radio network. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the connection type specifies a physical property of the wide area network connection. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to create, in response to the identifying, a packet data network connection for each of the identified network devices; and
 assign an Internet Protocol address for each of the identified network devices using the packet data network connection, wherein the assigned Internet Protocol address is used for the arranging of each of the identified network devices. 
 
     
     
       7. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to perform the determining of the suitable connection types using a universal plug and play compliant device discovery process. 
     
     
       8. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying of each local network device is performed based on associated layer 2 addresses. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the apparatus comprises a wireless local area network access point configured to enable wireless connecting of the local network devices to the apparatus. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to detect a physical property that is characteristic to the connection of a connected device and to use the characteristic in the determining of the suitable connection type for the connected device. 
     
     
       11. A method, comprising:
 routing traffic between a wide area network connection and a plurality of local network devices associated with a communication network; 
 forming the wide area network connection in any of a plurality of connection types; identifying each local network device of the plurality of the local network devices; 
 automatically determining based at least on a packet inspection of traffic protocols of each port defined by data of the traffic for each of the identified local network devices a suitable connection type out of the plurality of connection types using packet inspection of a data packet of the traffic, wherein the packet inspection comprises determining a communication protocol of the data packet based on a port defined by the data packet; and 
 based on the determining: 
 arranging for each of the identified network devices to use at least one of a different network and a different gateway associated with the communication network to form a plurality of physical links different than other concurrently existing physical links for use by the different connection types, 
 assigning a different physical link of the plurality of physical links to each identified network device of the identified network devices for the suitable connection type for communication by different ones of the identified network devices with different connection types of the plurality of connection types over the communication network, 
 and 
 tearing down physical links of other concurrently existing physical links that are no longer used for the different connection types. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the connection type specifies at least one of a requirement for quality of service or a particular flow control mechanism. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the the packet inspection associated with the traffic protocols of each port defined by data of the traffic for each of the identified local network devices is determining a source Internet Protocol address, and a destination Internet Protocol address associated with each port defined by data of the traffic for each of the identified local network devices, and is determining at least one of a real time communication protocol, a real time communication control protocol, a hypertext transfer protocol, or a hypertext transfer protocol secure packet associated with each port defined by data of the traffic for each of the identified local network devices. 
     
     
       14. A non-transitory memory medium comprising a computer program, the computer program executed by at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
 routing traffic between a wide area network connection and a plurality of local network devices associated with a communication network; 
 forming the wide area network connection in any of a plurality of connection types; code for identifying each local network device of the plurality of the local network devices; 
 automatically determining based at least on a packet inspection of traffic protocols of each port defined by data of the traffic for each of the identified local network devices, a suitable connection type out of the plurality of connection types using packet inspection of a data packet of the traffic, wherein the packet inspection comprises determining a communication protocol of the data packet based on a port defined by the data packet; and 
 based on the determining: 
 arranging for each of the identified network devices to use at least one of a different network and a different gateway associated with the communication network to form a plurality of physical links different than other concurrently existing physical links for use by the different connection types, 
 assigning a different physical link of the plurality of physical links to each identified network device of the identified network devices for the suitable connection type for communication by different ones of the identified network devices over the communication network, 
 and 
 tearing down physical links of other concurrently existing physical links that are no longer used for the different connection types.